System and method for platform-independent biometrically verified secure information transfer and access control

ABSTRACT

The inventive data processing system and method enable verifiable secure transfer of information between two or more parties, each having access to at least one identity verification system, utilizing a platform-independent architecture to enable verification of identities of parties sending and receiving secured (e.g., encrypted) information, and ensuring that only an authorized receiving party gains access to the secured information, regardless of the type, model, ownership and/or quantity of biometric identity verification (BIV) systems being utilized by each party. In one embodiment of the inventive system and method, parties desiring to securely transfer information between one another register at a central security management system, and each provide one or more biometric enrollments. Thereafter, the inventive system also enables any registered party to send biometrically (and otherwise) secured information to the other party utilizing any available BIV system (or systems) that is compatible with one or more of their registered biometric enrollments, regardless of BIV system ownership, and without requiring local enrollment. In another embodiment of the inventive system and method, a party registered with the system that owns certain secured content is able to selectively designate identities of one or more registered parties that are authorized to access the secured content and/or a portion thereof, upon verification of identity, and optionally provide one or more rules of varying complexity governing such access.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a continuation-in-part of, and claimspriority from, the commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/332,017 entitled “MULTIPLATFORM INDEPENDENT BIOMETRICIDENTIFICATION SYSTEM” filed Jan. 11, 2006, which in turn is acontinuation-in-part of, and claims priority from, the commonly assignedU.S. Pat. No. 6,993,659 entitled “INDEPENDENT BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATIONSYSTEM” filed Apr. 23, 2002. The present patent application additionallyclaims priority from the commonly assigned co-pending U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 60/792,365, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FORPLATFORM-INDEPENDENT BIOMETRICALLY SECURE INFORMATION TRANSFER”, filedApr. 14, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system and method forbiometrically verifying and securing transfer of information between twoor more parties, and more particularly to a system and method forproviding various advantageous biometrically-enhancedplatform-independent features to the process of information transferbetween two or more parties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the last decade, the rapidly decreasing cost of computers, coupledwith simultaneous performance gains, as well as the growing availabilityof inexpensive access to high speed telecommunications, have resulted ina dramatic jump in the installed base of computers and broadbandtelecommunication connections both in consumer and commercial areas.

The proliferation of computers and low-cost high-speedtelecommunications, also led to an ever-growing increase in the amountof information exchanged between various parties, within and betweencircles of individuals ranging from social groups (friends, family), togovernment, educational and corporate organizations.

In addition, the explosive growth of versatile personal communicationdevices (such as, for example, cellular telephones equipped with amyriad of functions) has arguably eclipsed the above-noted rise inavailability of computers with high speed telecommunication connections.With each month, new personal communication options become available toconsumer and organizational users, most often embodied in mobiletelephones that are smaller, more powerful, and with a more impressivelist of features, than comparable models released mere weeks ago.

Not surprisingly, these trends have led to an unprecedented escalationin demand for solutions related to secure transmission of informationbetween various parties (e.g., electronic data transmissions, voicecommunications, etc.), and also for solutions related to controllingaccess to secured stored content (e.g., ranging from personalinformation, such as photographs, to content generated and owned bycorporate, government and educational organizations).

For decades, and continuing to present day, the primary solution tosecuring transmission of information between parties using electronicdevices, has been to enable the sending party to encrypt transmittedinformation, and, at the same time, provide the receiving party with theability to decrypt and access the sent information. One popular approachto securing electronic data, transmission involves the use of PGP (or“pretty good privacy”) encryption, with appropriate PGP keys beingexchanged between the parties prior to data transmission, and later usedto achieve encryption, and subsequent decryption, of transmitted data.Similar security measures have also been the typical approach taken tosecure access to stored content, where the access to content (encryptedor otherwise) is controlled by a password, or other form of access code,provided to the party authorized to gain access thereto.

However, the above solutions have significant drawbacks. First, and mostimportant, is the fact that none of the previously known encryptiontechniques enabled the parties involved in information transfertherebetween, to authenticate the identity of the party sending theinformation, as the source of the transmission, and also to authenticatethe identity of the recipient, to confirm that the transmittedinformation was accessed by the specific identified party to which itwas addressed, rather that by anyone having access to the receivingparty's communication device and/or access code (e.g.,username/password).

The same challenge is present in the field of content access control,where anyone can use a stolen, or otherwise misappropriated, access code(e.g., username/password) to gain unauthorized access to securedcontent. Additionally, the process of exchange, and/or provision, of PGPkey information, is complex and cumbersome—a deterrent to the use ofconventional encryption/decryption technologies for most parties outsidegovernment and corporate sectors.

One attempt to address the above challenges was the proposed utilizationof biometric access control systems by the sending and receiving partyto authenticate the identity of the sending and receiving party. The useof biometric technologies has previously gained some acceptance in thefield of content access control, and so, application of suchtechnologies to the goal of securing data transmission was a reasonableapproach.

Biometrics is a field of technology aimed at utilizing one or moreunique personal characteristics of an individual, ranging, for examplefrom their fingerprints to their hand vein pattern, odor, iris image, ortheir DNA, to authenticate their identity. Biometric technologies aretypically of two types—passive and active. Passive biometrics either donot require the individual who's identity is being verified to doanything other than to enable a certain biometric characteristic to beacquired by the system (e.g., by placing a finger on a fingerprintscanner, by looking into a retinal scanner, or by looking in thedirection of a facial scanner). Active biometrics require the individualwho's identity is being verified to perform one or more predeterminedactions in order to enable the system to acquire the representation ofone or more appropriate biometric characteristics (e.g., by providing asignature, by speaking, by squeezing a certain object, etc.). Certaintypes of biometric systems may incorporate a combination of active andpassive biometric approaches. The various types of biometric systems arediscussed in greater detail in the commonly assigned co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/332,017 entitled “MULTIPLATFORMINDEPENDENT BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM”, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

While certainly appearing to address one of the key challenges ofsecuring information transfer, biometric access control systems sufferfrom a number of serious disadvantages that have prevented theirwidespread use, and that have effectively stunted their growth in mostareas outside of physical access control and local computer accesscontrol applications. To understand these disadvantages, it is useful toprovide an overview of previously known biometric access control systemoperations.

A biometric access control system (also interchangeably referred toherein as “biometric identity verification system”), typically includestwo main components—a physical device of some sort to actively, and/orpassively, acquire predetermined biometric information, and programinstructions (such as a software application, embedded in the device,installed on the computer connected to the device, or a combination ofboth), for managing the operation of the device, and for providingbiometric recognition technology that enables utilization of the deviceto authenticate the identity of one or more individuals previously“enrolled” in the system when the individual presents the appropriatebiometric information to the device.

Each individual authorized to use a biometric access control system, isfirst “enrolled” (i.e., registered) in the system, so that the systemcan acquire particular biometric information from the individual inaccordance with a predetermined enrollment protocol (for example,requiring the individual to provide the same, or similar, biometricinformation several times, etc.). The acquired biometric enrollmentinformation is then transformed, in accordance with one or moreproprietary technologies, into a “recognition template” (or equivalentlogical data structure), representative of the acquired biometricinformation, and then optionally optimized for use with the appropriatebiometric recognition algorithms.

During a later authentication attempt, biometric information, of thesame specific type as was originally enrolled (e.g., left index fingerfingerprint, right iris, etc.), is presented to the biometric device,then acquired and transformed into a template, and finally compared tothe enrolled stored recognition template, to determine a match, inaccordance with one or more recognition criteria (for example a“recognition threshold”, representative of the allowable degree ofdifference between the enrolled template, and the presented template,for successful authentication thereof), and therefore to authenticatethe identity of the presenting individual. The two main reasons forusing stored recognition templates are: (1) as a requirement for usingbiometric recognition algorithms during the authentication process; and(2) to ensure that actual acquired biometric information is never storedfor security purposes.

The key disadvantage, crippling the use of biometrics as a broadscalable secure information transfer and access control solution, hasbeen the combination of (1) availability of several hundred differentbiometric devices of various types flooding the market (with the amountof devices growing each year) and (2) the fact that in a vast majorityof cases, the available biometric devices, even of the same type (e.g.,fingerprint scanners) are incompatible with one another. Each of thesedevices uses their own biometric software (although several devicemanufacturers share a similar core biometric information acquisitiondevice and biometric recognition algorithms), and during enrollmentcreates a biometric recognition template specific to the device. Inaddition, the enrollment recognition template may be stored in thebiometric device, in the computer to which the device is connected, in adifferent computer connected thereto, or in one or more of the above,depending on the device model. As a result, the enrolled individual mustalways utilize the specific type and model of biometric device and thespecific computer (or computer network) where they originally enrolled.

Another devastating shortcoming of previously known biometric systems,flowing from general incompatibility of biometric devices, fromdifferent manufacturers, is the fact without any clear unifyingstandard, the only way for parties to truly use a biometric technologysolution for verifying the identity of the sending and/or receivingparty, and for securing information transfer therebetween (as opposed tousing biometrics as a password replacement supplement to conventionalsecurity measures), is for all parties to acquire and use the samecompatible model and type of biometric device. This is a seriousdrawback, because commitment to utilization of a specific type and brandof biometric identity verification device, requires a significant degreeof collusion and common agreement between many individuals that intendto use the system.

In addition, the issue of compatibility and uniformity is particularlyproblematic for any large scale implementation of a system for verifyingand securing information transfer. The requirement that all parties in alarge organization involved in developing and, more importantly, usingthe system, to cooperate and coordinate biometric device acquisition anduniform installation, to ensure that everyone involved is using the samebiometric devices equipped with compatible biometric recognitionsoftware, is very burdensome and a significant barrier to implementationof such systems.

And, if a particular biometric device in such a system is later replacedwith another biometric device using a biometric recognition templateincompatible with the original biometric device, all of the devices inthe system must be replaced to maintain compatibility therebetween, andall individuals using those devices must be re-enrolled with the newdevices. As a result, the previously known approaches for usingbiometrics in this manner also

Similar issues exist with respect to use of biometrics to control accessto content—all involved parties must use a biometric device that iscompatible with the system providing biometric access control to thecontent, and similarly are limited to using the same type and model ofbiometric device, and only at the computers (or computer networks) wherethey previously enrolled.

While the above-incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. '017provided a solution to interoperable utilization of different types ofbiometric devices in the same group of users (for example, the users ofa local or wide area network), it did not specifically address all ofthe issues involved in applying the disclosed techniques to the purposeof using biometrics to secure and authenticate transmission and receiptof information transferred between various parties.

Thus, none of the previously known biometric security approaches enableparties to verify and secure the transfer of information therebetween,utilizing any biometric identity verification system available to eachparty, without regard to the biometric identity verification system (orsystems) utilized by the other party or parties.

It would thus be desirable to provide a system and method fortransferring secured information, between parties, while enablingauthentication of identities of at least one of, the party sending theinformation, and the party, or parties, receiving and/or accessing thereceived information, with each party being able to utilize one or morebiometric identity verification systems of their choice, independentlyof the other party. It would further be desirable to provide a systemand method for restricting access to content to one or more specificidentified individuals, where each identified individual is able toutilize one or more biometric identity verification systems of theirchoice, independently of the access control system being used, andindependently of the biometric identity verification systems beingutilized by other identified individuals (if any). It would additionallybe desirable, to provide a system and method for tracking andbiometrically verifying various data relating to previously conductedinformation transfer between parties, whether such transfer occurredthrough transmission of information therebetween, or by one partyallowing access to secured content to one or more other, biometricallyverified, parties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters denote correspondingor similar elements throughout the various figures:

FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of a first exemplary embodiment of theinventive secure information transfer management (SITM) system, thatenables verifying and securing information transfer between parties,through platform-independent identity verification;

FIG. 1B shows a block diagram of an alternate exemplary embodiment ofthe inventive SITM system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a second exemplary embodiment of theinventive SITM system, that enables verifying and securing informationtransfer between parties, through platform-independent identityverification;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a third exemplary embodiment of theinventive SITM system, that enables verifying and securing informationtransfer between parties, through platform-independent identityverification;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the inventiveSITM system; that enables verifying and securing information transferbetween parties, through platform-independent identity verification;

FIG. 5 shows a logic flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of aprocess of implementing and utilizing the SITM system of FIGS. 1A-3; and

FIG. 6 shows a logic flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of aprocess of implementing and utilizing the SITM system of FIG. 4.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive data processing system and method enable secure transferof information between two or more parties, each having access to atleast one identity verification system, utilizing a platform-independentarchitecture to enable the sending and receiving parties to verifytransmission and receipt of secured (e.g., encrypted) information,and/or to control access by one party to information secured by anotherparty, regardless of the type, model, ownership, and/or quantity ofbiometric identity verification (BIV) systems being utilized by eachparty.

In one embodiment of the inventive system and method, parties desiringto securely transfer information between one another, register at acentral independent biometric security management (IBSM) system, andeach provide one or more biometric enrollments that are stored by theIBSM system in their unique record. Thereafter, the inventive systemalso enables any registered party to send biometrically (and otherwise)secured information to the other party utilizing any available BIVsystem (or systems) that is compatible with one or more of theirregistered biometric enrollments stored in their IBSM system record,regardless of BIV system ownership, and without requiring localenrollment. Thus, registered users can advantageously utilize acompatible BIV system of any information transfer device capable ofcommunication with the IBSM system.

In another embodiment of the inventive system and method, that may bereadily utilized on its own, or in conjunction with the previouslydescribed embodiment, a party registered with the IBSM system, that ownscertain secured content, is able to selectively designate identities ofone or more registered parties that are authorized to access the securedcontent and/or a portion thereof, upon verification of their identity,and, optionally, provide one or more rules of varying complexity to theIBSM system governing such access.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that thedrawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as adefinition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should bemade to the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The system and method of the present invention remedy the disadvantagesof previously known biometric solutions directed at verifying andsecuring information transfer between parties, by providing aplatform-independent biometric security management system architecturethat enables registered parties to securely transfer informationtherebetween, and verify the identities of the party enabling thetransfer (e.g., by transmission of information, or by enabling securedaccess to stored information), and/or of the recipient party gainingaccess to the information (e.g., by receiving the information, and/or byaccessing secured stored information), utilizing any biometric identityverification system available, regardless of the type, model, and/orownership, as long as the utilized biometric system is compatible withone or more of their previously registered biometric enrollments.

The inventive system and method achieve the above, and other objectives,by enabling prospective users to register with a centralized independentbiometric security management (IBSM) system, and, during theregistration process, in addition to providing identifying information(name, contact information, etc.), to also supply one or more biometricenrollments, utilizing one or more biometric identity verificationsystems available to them. Any registered user is also able to addadditional biometric enrollments, from any other biometric identityverification system, at a later time to expand their ability to utilizethe inventive system utilizing many different biometric devices.

The novel IBSM system stores the above information in unique recordsassigned to each individual registered user, and further enablesadditional information to be stored in the records. For example, theIBSM system advantageously enables a registered user to definepreferences for sending secured information to other registered users(such as a selectable list of potential recipients, the need for receiptand/or viewing verification, etc.), as well as to define one or morerules of varying complexity, governing the recipient's access to thetransmitted secured information. For example, the sending user canspecify a rule, that a particular transmission of information (e.g.,electronic mail message with attachment), may only be opened by theintended recipient, if that recipient successfully passes identityverification from two (or more) different biometric identityverification systems (e.g., a fingerprint scanner and a facial scanner),or that two separate recipients must both verify their identity with theIBSM system, in order to access the content of the transmission.

While the inventive system and method are described below in connectionwith certain drawing figures in exemplary embodiments, as beingadvantageously configured for use with transfer of electronicinformation over a communication network (e.g., the Internet or othertelecommunications network), it should be understood to one skilled inthe art, that the inventive system and method may be readily andadvantageously utilized for enabling secured information transfer of anytype (audio (e.g., voice), video, sensor information, machine-readabledata, etc.), without departing from the spirit of the invention, as amatter of necessity or design choice.

Similarly, while the descriptions of various embodiments of theinventive system and method, interchangeably refer to various dataprocessing systems used in conjunction therewith as “computers”, itshould be noted that any system with similar capabilities, necessary forperforming the tasks required by the inventive system and method, mayreadily be used as a matter of necessity or design choice, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. For example, it isspecifically contemplated that a wireless telephone (such as a cellulartelephone) with sufficient data processing capabilities may be readilyutilized in accordance with the present invention.

Before describing the various embodiments of the inventive system andmethod, and the components, infrastructure, and operation in greaterdetail, it would be helpful to provide the definitions of certain termsused in the drawing figures, and in the accompanying descriptions. Table1 below contains summary of definitions of commonly used terms withinthe context of the description of the various embodiments of the presentinvention,

Because the terminology that may be currently utilized to describe thevarious embodiments of the novel system (and its functionality), evolvesand changes rapidly, for the purposes of clarity, and without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, the various elements, components,infrastructures, and process steps of the inventive system and method,are described in Table 1, and further below, in terms of their requiredor desired functionality, and/or in terms of objectives they areintended to accomplish, in accordance with the present invention, ratherthan as specific structural and/or process implementations, which maychange in nomenclature with advances in information systems technology.

For example, as computers of various types are well known in the art, itis presumed that any computer used in conjunction with the presentinvention, will include the typical components necessary for itsoperation, e.g., one or more CPUs, memory, long term data storage, and,in cases of computers typically utilized by users, one or more inputdevices, a display, and so on. In addition, because a number ofabbreviated terms are used for the sake of convenience in FIGS. 1A to 6,and further below, Table 1 also provides the definitions of allabbreviated terms used herein. TABLE 1 (Definitions/Terminology) # TermDefinition 1 User/USER A user, for the purposes of the presentinvention, is defined as: 1. any party that desires to securely and/orverifiably transfer information to another party (or parties), whetherby transmission thereto, or by granting (to the other party or parties)secured access to content that includes information, and/or 2. any partythat desires to receive secured and/or verified information from anotherparty (or parties), whether by transmission therefrom, or by accessingsecured content, as permitted by the other party (or parties). Thus, inaccordance with the present invention, users may range from privateindividuals, to members of groups of any type and with any amount ofhierarchical levels and subgroups and that may be readily overlap withother groups (e.g., groups of friends, family members, employees of acorporation, government employees and/or officials of varying ranks inone or more agencies, students of a particular university, etc.) 2InfoTr System Information transfer system. For the purposes of thepresent invention, an information transfer (InfoTr) system, is definedas any system having at least some of the following characteristics: 1.capability for transmitting information to at least one other InfoTrsystem; 2. capability for receiving information from at least one otherInfoTr system; 3. capability for storing data and applications forissuing instructions, and, in response to issued instructions,performing tasks involving data stored therein or provided thereto,sufficient to enable functionality necessary for operation of the novelsystem and method as described blow in connection with FIGS. 1A to 6; 4.capability for displaying information relevant to its operation and theperformed tasks; 5. capability for communicating with the IBSM system(see definition below); and 6. capability for receiving instructionsfrom an operator. In accordance with the present invention, the term“InfoTr system” can also refer to a collection of two or moreinterconnected InfoTr systems (e.g., a local area network) having theabove capabilities individually, and/or jointly. The InfoTr systempreferably includes an operating environment, and one or moreinstruction sets (e.g., program applications), that provide it with theability to execute functions relating to sending and/ or receivinginformation. By way of example, for an InfoTr system implemented as apersonal computer, the operating environment may be an appropriateoperating system, while an exemplary information transfer instructionset, may be an electronic mail program. By way of example, computersranging from pocket-sized personal digital assistants (PDAs), and smarttelephones to personal desktop or notebook computers, to high powerservers and server networks, are the most common exemplaryimplementations of InfoTr systems, and, in most cases, readily possessall the capabilities necessary for operation as components of variousembodiments of the inventive system and method. Accordingly, the InfoTrsystems shown in various embodiments of the present invention, arepreferably computers or advanced communication devices with appropriatesimilar functionality (e.g., wireless/cellular/ satellite telephone,military communicator, radio transmitter, etc.), with the specific type,capabilities, and configuration thereof, being determined as a matter ofnecessity and/or design choice. However, it should be noted that anysystem, even if falling outside the conventional definition of a“computer” or communication device, may be utilized as a InfoTr systemin accordance with the present invention, without departing from thespirit of the invention, as long as such a system posses the necessarycapabilities selected from (1) to (6) above. 3 BIVS Biometric identityverification system (See FIG. 1A and accompanying description) 4 BIVDBiometric identity verification device (See FIG. 1B and accompanyingdescription) 5 BIVA Biometric identity verification application (SeeFIG. 1B and accompanying description) 6 EDA Encryption/decryptionapplication. For the purposes of the present invention, an EDA is a setof instructions, for example embodied in a program applicationexecutable by an InfoTr system, and/or by the IBSM system, or as amodule to another application (e.g., the application responsible fortransmission of information), capable of encrypting and/or decryptingelectronic information in any form. Advantageously, any type of EDA,whether currently available, or developed in the future, may be readilyin conjunction with the inventive system and method without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. In one embodiment of the inventivesystem and method, during encryption of information to be transmitted,the EDA utilizes at least a portion of the UBIV_Element (see definitionbelow) of the user of the InfoTr system sending the transmission. 7Information/Data/ As defined herein, information, data, or Contentcontent, may be of any type and in any number of formats that can be, inwhole or in part, transmitted, interacted with (e.g., viewed, modified,reviewed, etc.), generated, acquired, analyzed, deleted, reviewed,and/or otherwise processed by an InfoTr system. For example, informationmay include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: text,images, audio, video, transactional information, instrument or sensorreadings (e.g., medical, scientific, military), links to other data,executable programs and supporting files, etc. Additionally, data may bestatic, interactive, or a combination of both. While it may be usedinterchangeably with “information” or “data”, the term“content”preferably represents certain desirable information that is ofinterest to one or more parties, access to which is controlled by one ormore parties. 8 SIT Secured information transmission (See FIG. 1A andaccompanying description) 9 IBSM System Independent biometric securitymanagement system. (See FIG. 1A and accompanying description) 10 SITMsystem Secure information transfer management system - the system of thepresent invention, at a minimum including two InfoTr systems, eachaccessed by a user, and each capable of communication with an inventiveIBSM system, and optionally of communication between one another, that,in at least one inventive embodiment, can be utilized by users tosecurely transfer information between one another, and to verifyidentity of transmitting user, as well as to verify the identity of theuser receiving and accessing the information. 11 Communication Link Asdefined herein, a communication link is preferably any form of acommunication connection between the various components of the inventiveSITM system (e.g., InfoTr systems, the IBSM system, etc.), that enablesdata transmission of the appropriate types of information therebetween.Thus, each communication link may include, but is not limited to, one ormore of the following, in any combination: direct telecommunicationline(s), wireless link(s) (e.g., satellite uplink, radio, cellular,wi-fi, etc.), and communication network(s) (such as a LAN (local areanetwork), a WAN (wide area network), or the Internet). 12 USER_RecordRecord stored in IBSM System representative of the user's UBIV_Elementand additional information. (See FIG. 1A and accompanying description)13 UBIV_Element User biometric identity verification element. (See FIG.1A and accompanying description) 14 SIT_Profile Secured informationtransfer profile. (See FIG. 1A and accompanying description) 15 SIT_LogSecured information transfer log. (See FIG. 1A and accompanyingdescription) 16 SCA_Profile Secured content access profile (See FIG. 4and accompanying description) 17 CA_Record Content access record (SeeFIG. 4 and accompanying description) 18 Recipient_INFO Informationidentifying the specific user (or users) as intended recipient(s) of SITbeing sent by a user. (See FIG. 5 and accompanying description) 19Sender_BIVE Sender biometric identity verification element (See FIG. 5and accompanying description) 20 Recipient_BIVE Recipient biometricidentity verification element (See FIG. 5 and accompanying description)

It should be noted, that the specific numbers of users, andcorresponding InfoTr systems shown in the various FIGS. 1A to 4, areprovided by way of example only. Because the inventive secureinformation transfer management (SITM) system is completely scalable, itmay be used in configurations ranging from as few as two users, to asmany as practically possible, as a matter of design choice orconvenience, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a first exemplary embodiment of the inventiveSITM system 10 is shown. The SITM system 10 enables secure andverifiable transfer of information between at least two users 20 and 30(see Table 1, definition #1). Each of the users 20, 30 preferablyoperates a corresponding information transfer (InfoTr) system 22, 32(for example a computer or mobile communication device), capable oftransmitting information to other InfoTr systems of the same, or ofdifferent type and/or configuration. Thus, for example, each of theInfoTr systems 22 and 32 may be of a different type—InfoTr system 22 maybe a personal computer, while InfoTr system 32 may be a smart mobilecommunication device.

Each of the InfoTr systems 22, 32 preferably includes a correspondingencryption/decryption application (EDA) 24, 34, respectively (see Table1, definition #6), for enabling each of the users 20, 30 to secure andverify information transferred therebetween (for example by encryptingit at for transmission and then decrypting it when received andaccessed, upon recipient identity verification).

Each of the InfoTr systems 22, 32 includes, or has ready access to, acorresponding biometric identity verification system (BIVS) 26, 36. Asdiscussed in greater detail above, in connection with the background ofthe present invention, a BIVS utilizes one or more unique personalcharacteristics of a user registered therewith, to verify theiridentity. As discussed in greater detail below in connection with FIG.1B, a BIVS typically includes a biometric identity verification device(BIVD) for acquiring biometric information from a user, and acorresponding biometric identity verification application (BIVA) forcontrolling the operation of the BIVD, and for enabling the acquiredbiometric characteristics to be used for identity verification.

In accordance with the present invention, each of the BIVS 26, 36 may beany type of BIVS whatsoever. Advantageously, the BIVS 26, 36 do not needto be compatible with one another. Thus, the BIVS 26 may be afingerprint scanner, while the BIVS 36 may be a facial recognitionsystem. Preferably, each BIVS 26, 36 is capable of “enrolling” (i.e.,registering) one or more users (e.g. users 20, 30), and generating acorresponding user biometric identity verification element(UBIV_Element), representative of the biometric information acquired bythe BIVD and processed for use in future user identity verification(e.g., by creating a recognition template, or otherwise). In previouslyknown biometric security systems, a user's UBIV_Element is typicallystored in one or more of the BIVS, the InfoTr system connected thereto,or, in client-server configurations, on a separate central InfoTrsystem.

The SITM system 10 also includes an independent biometric securitymanagement (IBSM) system 60, which is the key component of the presentinvention. The IBSM system 60, is preferably an data processing system(such as one or more computers (e.g. a server, or network of servers)),capable of communicating and interacting with as many different InfoTr,and BIVS types, models and configurations as is practicable or, at aminimum, as many as is required by the desired SITM system 10configuration, capacity, and intended use.

The SITM system 10 also includes a communication link 40, for enablingcommunication between the InfoTr system 22 and the InfoTr system 32, acommunication link 42 for enabling communication between the InfoTrsystem 22 and the IBSM system 60, and a communication link 44 forenabling communication between the InfoTr system 32 and the IBSM system60 (see Table 1, definition #11). One or more of the communication links40, 42, 44 may be different from one another, or they may all be thesame. For example, the communication link 40 may be a wireless voicetelecommunication link, while communication link 44 is a broadband landtelecommunication line and the communication link 44 is a wireless datacommunication link. Or, all of the communication links 40, 42, 44 may bethe Internet.

Prior to utilization of the inventive SITM system 10, each user desiringto take advantage of the advantageous SITM system 10 functionality (e.g.each of the users 20, 30), performs a registration process, that, at aminimum, involves the following:

-   -   (1) providing certain predetermined personal identifying        information (e.g. name, address, etc.);    -   (2) verification of that information (by third party        confirmation, in case of certain types of users (corporate or        government employees, etc.), or by other well known reliable        identity verification approaches;    -   (3) storing the provided information (and optionally the source        of verification) in a corresponding record for each user        (USER_Record) in the IBSM system 60. Optionally, if the user is        already biometrically registered at their InfoTr system through        the corresponding BIVS (e.g., if the user 20 previously used        BIVS 26 to enroll on their InfoTr system 22), and the IBSM        system 60 is appropriately configured by an authorized        administrator, it may accept identity verification based on        previous local InfoTr system biometric registration; and    -   (4) utilizes their respective BIVS (e.g. BIVS 26 for user 20,        and BIVS 36 for user 30) to generate a corresponding        UBIV_Element and transmit it for storage via respective        communication links (e.g. link 42 for user 20, and link 46 for        user 30), to the corresponding USER_Record stored in the IBSM        system 60.

Thus, for each user 20, 30, the IBSM system 60 stores an individualunique USER_Record 62, that includes that user's verified identifyinginformation, as well as at least one of their correspondingUBIV_Element(s) 64.

As discussed below in connection with FIG. 2, any user can generateadditional UBIV_Elements for their USER_Record, utilizing BIVS ofdifferent types, models, and/or configurations, such that theirUSER_Record stores UBIV_Elements for a variety of BIVSs. This is acrucial advantageous feature of the present invention—because any userregistered with the IBSM system 60 is able to verify their identitythrough any BIVS, even one which they never used, or one that is part ofanother user's InfoTr system, if it is capable of utilizing any of theUBIV_Elements stored in the USER_Record.

This feature enables the IBSM system 60 to be truly“platform-independent” with respect to compatibility with various InfoTrand BIVS types, models, and configurations. For example, a user 50,previously registered with the IBSM system 60, and having a UBIV_Elementcompatible with the BIVS 36 stored in their USER_Record, is able toutilize the InfoTr System 32 and the BIVS 36 of the user 30, toverifiably exchange secured information with other registered users, forexample, with another user 46, that may have access to the InfoTr system22.

Thus, preferably, the IBSM system 60 may be scaled to any necessarycapacity, and provided with all necessary components (hardware and/orsoftware), to enable it to readily communicate, and interact with, thevarious InfoTr systems, BIVS, and other components of the inventive SITMsystem (as illustrated, by way of example, for SITM systems 10 of FIG.1A, 70 of FIG. 1B, 100, of FIG. 2, 200 of FIG. 3, and 300 of FIG. 4).

It should also be noted that, the “Independent Biometric SecurityServer” disclosed in the above-incorporated U.S. patent application Ser.No. '017, may be readily and advantageously configured for use as a IBSMsystem 60. Optionally, any other data processing system capable ofsimilar or equivalent biometric platform-independent functionality tothe “Independent Biometric Security Server” may be readily utilized asthe IBSM system 60, as a matter of design choice, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Additionally, as long as the above-described minimum IBSM system 60registration steps are followed, any user can readily utilize anotheruser's InfoTr system and BIVS to register, as long as independentverification of the user's identity is available to finalizeregistration.

In accordance with the present invention, the users 20, 30 utilize theIBSM system 60 during transfer of a secured information transmission(SIT) 52, between InfoTr systems 22 and 32, over the communication link40, to verify identities of the sending user (e.g., user 20), as well asthe identity of the user receiving and accessing the SIT 52 (e.g., user30). In addition, the IBSM system 60 may be advantageously utilized aspart of the SIT 52 generation process (e.g. when the information to betransferred is encrypted or otherwise secured) by the EDA 24, and thenaccessed (e.g., decrypted) by the EDA 34.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, in addition to, or insteadof one or both of the EDA 24, 34, the IBSM system 60 may include anoptional EDA 68, that performs all, or some, of the tasks necessary forgenerating and accessing the SIT 52. Additionally, rather than beingtransferred through the communication link 40, in yet another alternateembodiment of the invention, the SIT 52 may be readily transmittedbetween InfoTr systems 22 and 32 through the IBSM system 60 via thecommunication links 42, 44.

In summary, in one of its simplest implementations, the inventive SITMsystem 10 operates as follows: the user 20, desiring to transmit certaininformation to the user 30, indicates, to the IBSM system 60, themselvesas the sender, and the user 30 as the intended recipient. The user 20then provides biometric information to the IBSM system 60 through theirBIVS 24, which is processed and compared to a compatible UBIV_Elementstored in their USER_Record, to verify the identity of the user 20. Theinformation to be transferred is then encrypted to generate the SIT 52(optionally utilizing at least a portion of one or both of theUBIV_Element of the sending user 20, and the UBIV_Element of thereceiving user 30). The SIT 52 is then transmitted to the user 30, andupon receipt by the InfoTr system 32, to access the information in theSIT 52, the user 30 must verify their identity to the IBSM system 60, byproviding biometric information thereto through the BIVS 36, that, whenprocessed, is successfully matched to a compatible UBIV_Element storedin the USER_Record of the user 30 (optionally in accordance withpredetermined biometric recognition criteria (e.g., threshold, etc.),that may have been present in the IBSM system 60, or that may have beenspecified by the sending user 20 to the IBSM system 60, for the SIT 52,or for all of user 20 data transfers).

When the identity of the user 30 is verified as the intended recipient,the IBSM system 60 enables the EDA 34 to decrypt the SIT 52 thusallowing the user 30 to access the transferred information, whileoptionally recording the access event, and optionally notifying user 20of the verification of the access by the designated recipient (user 30).An exemplary detailed embodiment of a process for the operation of theSITM system 10 for secured and verified information transmission isshown in FIG. 5, and described in detail below in connection therewith.

In accordance with the present invention, the sending user may be giventhe ability to have significant control over the manner in which theirtransferred secured information is accessed by the recipient, forexample, defining one or more criteria (e.g., in form of rules), thatmust be met for the recipient user to gain access to the information.For example, the user 20 can specify that in order to access informationin SIT 52, both the user 30, and another user 48, must verify theiridentities to the IBSM system 60, (e.g., both through the BIVS 36, orwith each user utilizing their own BIVS). Alternately, the user 20 canspecify that the user 30 must utilize two separate BIVS of differenttypes, or to utilize their BIVS 36 in conjunction with another from ofsecurity, such as a password or a PIN code. Optionally, the user 20 canset their SIT 52 to expire, or otherwise be erased, if the user 30 doesnot access it during a specified period of time.

Additionally, a user can specify the amount and detail level ofinformation, about the events relating to the secured data to be trackedand/or recorded by the IBSM system 60. For example, the user 20 canspecify that they want notification of delivery of SIT 52, notificationof user 30 acknowledging receipt of SIT 52, and notification when user30 accesses the information therein (as well as notification of anyfailed attempts to access the information).

Optionally, each user's preferences relating to transfer of securedinformation, and for tracking events related thereto, can be stored intheir USER_Record, for example as secured information transmissionprofile (SIT_Profile) (shown as optional SIT_Profile 66 a in FIG. 1A)for storing information relating to the user's preferences relating totransfer of secured information, and/or as secured informationtransmission log (SIT_Log) (shown as optional SIT_Log 66 b in FIG. 1A),for storing information indicative of the user's preferences relating totracking events related to secured information transfers. Optionally,both SIT_Profile and SIT_Log may be presented in a unified format.

Advantageously, from the point of view of a user, the interface fornecessary interaction with the various components of the SITM system 10,and especially with the IBSM system 60, may be implemented as a separateprogram application, or function, of a user's InfoTr system, or as acommunication portal accessible by the users' InfoTr system (forexample, a secure website). Optionally, the SITM system 10, and itscomponents, may be implemented transparently in the background, forexample, as components, modules or “plug-ins” for existingapplications/functions of the user's InfoTr system, such that a user cancontinue to utilize their preferred information transferapplications/functionality, while gaining the full benefit of the SITMsystem 10. In any implementation of the novel SITM system, theregistered users may gain access to IBSM system functionality through anappropriate identity verification or “login” procedure, that mayoptionally be integrated into the process of initiating secureinformation transmission or information access.

In addition, while a less secure implementation than described above, inan alternate embodiment of the SITM system 10, each InfoTr system canperform User identity verification locally, and, rather thantransmitting newly acquired UBIV_Elements to the IBSM system 60 forcentralized identity verification, each InfoTr system can simplyindicate the status of the local verification to the IBSM system 60.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary embodiment of a process 400 forsecured transmission of information utilizing the inventive SITM system(for example, the SITM system 10 of FIG. 1A) is shown. As noted above,as a matter of design choice, the various steps of this process may beexecuted by different components of the various embodiments of theinventive SITM system shown in FIGS. 1A to 3.

The process 400 begins at a step 402, where a sending user (hereinafter“Sender”), registered with the IBSM system component of the inventiveSITM system, decides to transmit secured information to one or moreother registered users of the SITM system (hereinafter “Recipient”). Ata step 404, the Sender generates Recipient_INFO, to identify theRecipient selected at step 402, and that may optionally include one ormore rules, for example, from a Sender SIT_Profile, relating torequirements that must be met by the Recipient to gain access to thesecured information, but at a minimum requiring biometric verificationof the Recipient's identity.

At a step 406, the Recipient_INFO is transmitted to the IBSM system (orsimply passed to the appropriate component thereof, if step 404 wasbeing performed at the IBSM system), optionally, along with Sender_BIVE(Sender biometric identity verification element, representative ofbiometric information provided by the Sender), that enables the IBSMsystem 60 to verify the identity of the Sender, both for internalsecurity purposes, and optionally for provision of that verifiedinformation to the Recipient. At a step 408, the process 400 verifiesthe Sender_BIVE (and optionally updates the Sender SIT_Log, if any), ata step 410, generates a SIT (e.g., by encrypting information to betransmitted), and at a step 412, transmits the SIT to the Recipient.

At a step 414, upon receipt of the SIT, the process 400 requests theRecipient to verify their identity, in accordance with the requirementssent forth by the Sender in Recipient_INFO (e.g., by presenting theirBIVS with biometric information to enable it to generate a correspondingRecipient_BIVE—Recipient biometric identity verification element,representative of biometric information provided by the Recipient). TheRecipient_BIVE is then transmitted, at a step 416, to the IBSM system,and verified against the Recipient's UBIV_Element (in addition to anyother verifications that may have been required by the Recipient_INFO).Assuming the verification criteria in the Recipient_INFO has been met,at a step 418, the SIT is decrypted and the Recipient is given access toinformation therein. At an optional step 420, the process 400 optionallyverifies to Sender that Recipient has received and accessed the SIT, andoptionally updates the Sender's SIT_Log and/or the Recipient's SIT_Log,with the results of one or more of the previously performed steps.

Referring now to FIG. 1B, an alternate embodiment of the inventive SITMsystem is shown as a SITM system 70. The SITM system 70 operatessubstantially similarly to the SITM system 10 of FIG. 1A, with thevarious components thereof having like reference characters, except thatthe functionality of the BIVS 26 and 36, is implemented in a differentmanner. Rather than each InfoTr system 22, 32 having access to a fullfeatured BIVS, they each include a respective biometric identityverification device (BIVS) 72, 74 only, each with sufficient applicationfunctionality to enable it to acquire appropriate biometric information,and provide it, preferably in encrypted form, to the IBSM system 60.Each BIVD 72, 74 serves as the physical device responsible for acquiringone or more specific biometric characteristics of the user. Examples ofa BIVD include, but are not limited to: a fingerprint scanner, palmscanner, vein scanner, facial recognition scanner, iris scanner, retinalscanner, signature acquisition device, voice acquisition device, etc.

The IBSM system 60, as implemented in the SITM system 70, is suppliedwith a centralized biometric identity verification application (BIVA) 76that performs all necessary functions necessary to generateUBIV_Elements from information received from BIVDs 72, 74, andappropriate functionality to perform necessary biometric identityverification, and any other required security measures. Other that asnoted above, the SITM system 70 operates in a manner similar to the SITMsystem 10 of FIG. 1A.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, exemplary embodiments of the novel SITMsystem, having more complex implementations that shown in FIG. 1A, butoperating on the same novel principles, are shown. Referring first toFIG. 2, a SITM system 100 is shown, that includes all of the componentsof the SITM system 10 shown in FIG. 1 and described in connectiontherewith, but that also includes an additional BIVS 102 provided to theInfoTr system 32, and optionally yet another standalone separate BIVS104, that may also be provided thereto, shown as an example toillustrate that the user 30 may register all three BIVS 36, 102, 104with the IBSM system 60 and then utilize any of the registered BIVS fornecessary identity verification therewith.

Similarly, as another example, a user 112, having an InfoTr system 114,may be provided with a separate BIVS/EDA standalone security device 116,capable of performing the functions of a BIVS 120 and of an EDA 118,which may be local to the user 112, or which the user 112 may utilizethrough a communication link 122 (for example, if the device 116 is avoice recognition based device, the user 112 may contact the device 116though their InfoTr system 114 and provide the necessary voice sample).In one example of utilization of the SITM system 100, the user 20 maytransfer the SIT 52 to the user 30 with one set of Recipient_INFO (seeProcess 400, FIG. 5), and also send the same SIT 52 to the user 112,with a different Recipient_INFO.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a SITM system 200 is shown, that includes allof the components of the SITM systems 10 (FIG. 1) and 100 (FIG. 2), butthat also includes an additional group of users, shown as a privatenetwork 202. The private network 202 may include an InfoTr server 204(e.g. a robust computer, such as a server, or group of servers) equippedwith an EDA 206, and additional users 208, 214 having correspondingInfoTr systems 210, 122, supplied with corresponding BIVSs 212, 218, andoptional EDAs 220, 222. In the SITM system 200, certain functionality ofthe individual InfoTr systems of the users, and/or of the IBSM system 60may be taken over by the InfoTr server 204. For example, the InfoTrserver 204 may utilize a powerful EDA 206 to perform all decryptionoperations (upon successful recipient identity verification) on a SIT232, sent by the user 112, arriving to the private network 202 via acommunication link 230, and designated for one, or both, of the users208, 214, and/or also perform the encryption operations on a SIT 228,sent, from the private network 202 via a communication link 226, to theuser 20 by one of the users 208, 214.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an alternate embodiment of the inventive SITMsystem of FIG. 1 that enables registered users to control and verifyaccess to stored content by other parties by specifying one or moreother registered users, and optionally by specifying one or morecriteria for accessing certain content (similarly to as described abovein connection with access to information in the SITs). The users 20 and30, as well as their respective InfoTr systems 22, 32, EDAs 24, 34, andBIVSs 26, 36, are as described above in connection with FIG. 1A.Similarly, the additional users 330 and 340 shown by way of example,have access to their respective InfoTr systems 332, 342, EDAs 334, 344,and BIVSs 336, 346, and may communicate with the IBSM system 60 viarespective communication links 350, 352. All of the InfoTr systems 22,32, 332, 324, are able to communicate with a content system 302 viarespective communication links 354, 356, 358 and 360. As noted above, inconnection with FIG. 1, the various communication links shown in FIG. 4may be similar to at least some of the other links, or may be all of thesame configuration (e.g., the Internet).

The content system 302 preferably includes at least one item of content(see Table 1, definition #7), with three content items 304, 306, and308, being shown by way of example. A particular user who owns, or isauthorized to control access to, a particular content item or items,creates a secure content access profile (SCA_Profile) that may be storedwith the content item, or at the IBSM system 60, and that providescriteria for accessing the content item, that may be as simple or ascomplex as the user chooses. For example, if the user 20 owns content304, they may specify in a SCA_Profile 310 that only users 30 and 344may access the content item 304 upon successful identity verification bythe IBSM system 60, and that the access granted to the user 330 expiresafter 10 days of being granted.

In another example, if the user 30 controls access to the content item306 which includes separate content items 312, 314 (while two are shownby way of example, a content item may include an unlimited number ofother content items in a flat or a hierarchical architecture), with theuser 30 defining separate SCA_Profiles 316, 318 therefor, or definingdifferent access rules for each separate content item 312, 314 in oneSCA_Profile.

In yet another example, the user 330, may define multiple SCA_Profiles320 for content item 308, for example, based on time, specificauthorized access users, and/or on other criteria. In addition, contentitem 308 (and of course any other content item), may include an optionalcontent access record (CA_Record) 322, that includes information relatedto access to the content item, and optionally, related to failed accessattempts.

Optionally, in one embodiment of the inventive SITM system 300, the IBSMsystem 60 and the content system 302 may be implemented as a singlesystem 364. This may be advantageous in applications where a largeamount of content items are to be managed, and/or where there is a largequantity of complex SCA_Profiles, and/or when content items areencrypted—i.e. in situations that may require an IBSM system 60dedicated to supporting the content system. Alternately, the contentsystem 302 may be implemented in a particular user's own InfoTr system.Of course, it should also be noted, that the functionality described inconnection with the SITM system 300 may be readily combined with SITMsystems 10, 70, 100, and 200, described above in connection with FIGS.1A, 1B, 2, and 3, respectively, because any embodiment of the novel SITMsystem can readily support both functionality related to verified secureinformation transmission, as well as to secured access control.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the same principles of SITMsystem 300 implementation as are described above in their application tocontent access control, may be readily extended to include physicalaccess control, whether location based (e.g., door), or item based(e.g., a safe, a computer).

Referring finally, to FIG. 6, an exemplary embodiment of a process 500for demonstrating the process of secured content access utilizing theinventive SITM system (for example, the SITM system 300 of FIG. 4) isshown. As a matter of design choice, the various steps of this processmay be executed by different components of the inventive SITM system 300of FIG. 4.

The process 500 may begin at an optional step 502, where user mayprovide one or more content items to a content system to be secured. Ifthe content item (or items) to be secured is already present on thecontent system, the process 500 beings at a step 504, where the usercreates a SCA_Profile that provides criteria for accessing the contentitem by one or more other parties, registered with the IBSM systemcomponent of the inventive SITM system. At an optional step 506, theprocess 500 encrypts the user's content item (this step is optionalbecause it is possible to control access to content without encryptingit).

At a step 508, a different user attempts to access secured content, andat a step 510, transmits, biometric information acquired through theirBIVS in form of a User_BIVE to the IBSM system (along with any otherinformation that may be required by the SCA_Profile), whereupon, theIBSM system verifies the supplied User_BIVE (and other information, ifany), against the UBIV_Element of the user.

Upon successful verification, at a step 512, the user is granted accessto the content item in accordance with the rules specified in theSCA_Profile for that content item (if any were defined). At an optionalstep 514, the process 500 records events relating to various stepsthereof in the CA_Record of the content item.

Finally, it should also be noted, that while the various above-describedembodiments of the novel SITM system provide for securing (e.g.,encrypting) the transferred information between the parties, theinventive system and method may also be readily utilized for senderand/or recipient identity verification only, without the transferredinformation being secured in any way. This alternate embodiment of theinventive system and method may be advantageous for applications wheresecurity and control of access to transferred data is not important, butwhere verification of identity of the sender and/or of the recipientaccessing the information, is necessary and/or desired.

Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed outfundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferredembodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices andmethods illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of thoseelements and/or method steps which perform substantially the samefunction in substantially the same way to achieve the same results arewithin the scope of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to belimited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

1. A data processing method for biometrically verifying at least oneaspect of a transfer of information between a first party and a secondparty, comprising the steps of: (a) indicating, by the first party to abiometric security management system, that the second party is anintended recipient of the information; (b) causing, by the first partyutilizing a first information transfer system, operable to receive andtransmit the information and comprising a first at least one biometricidentity verification system, the information to be made available tothe second party; (c) accessing, by the second party utilizing a secondinformation transfer system, operable to receive and transmit theinformation and comprising a second at least one biometric identityverification system, the information; and (d) verifying, by saidsecurity management system, an identity of at least one of the first andsecond parties to the other party, utilizing a corresponding at leastone of said at least first, and at least second biometric identityverification system.
 2. The data processing method of claim 1, whereinthe information comprises at least one of: text, image, audio, video,transactional information, instrument readings, sensor readings, link toother information, biometric information, and executable programinstructions.
 3. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein: saidstep (b) further comprises the step of: (e) transmitting theinformation, by said first information transfer system to said secondinformation transfer system, through a communication link therebetween;and wherein said step (c) further comprises the step of: (f) receivingthe information, by said second information transfer system from saidfirst information transfer system, through said communication linktherebetween.
 4. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein: saidstep (b) further comprises the step of: (g) storing the information, ina information storage system operable to communicate with said secondinformation transfer system, through a communication link therebetween;and wherein said step (c) further comprises the step of: (h) accessingsaid stored information, by said second information transfer system,through said communication link therebetween.
 5. The data processingmethod of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: (i) prior to saidstep (b), securing the information, by restricting access thereto, inaccordance with at least one access criteria; wherein said step (b)further comprises the step of: (j) providing the second party withaccess data indicative of at least one action necessary to meet said atleast one access criteria; and (k) prior to said step (c) and as aprerequisite for performance thereof, meeting said at least one accesscriteria, by the second party.
 6. The data processing method of claim 1,wherein each of said at least one first, and at least one secondbiometric identity verification systems are operable to verify theidentity of a corresponding one of the first or second party, byacquiring at least one biometric characteristic thereof, said at leastone biometric characteristic being selected from a group comprising: ahuman fingerprint, a human facial feature, a human voice, a human speechpattern, a human movement pattern, a human blood vessel pattern, a humanretina, a human iris feature, human DNA, human hand grip dynamic, humanodor, human ear structure, and a human writing style.
 7. The dataprocessing method of claim 1, wherein each of the first, and the secondparties, comprises at least one of: at least one individual, and atleast one group.
 8. The data processing method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: (l), prior to said step (a), generating aunique identification record for each of the first and second parties,by said biometric security management system, comprising the steps of:(m) providing, for each of the first and second parties to saidbiometric security management system, identification data representativeof said identity thereof; (n) providing, for each of the first andsecond parties to said biometric security management system, at leastone baseline biometric identifier representative of that party's atleast one biometric characteristic and acquired therefrom by acorresponding one of said at least one first, and at least one secondbiometric identity verification systems; and (o) storing, for each ofthe first and second parties, said identification data and said at leastone baseline biometric identifier in said unique identification record.9. The data processing method of claim 8, wherein said step (a) furthercomprises the steps of: (p) acquiring, by at least one third biometricidentity verification system from the first party, a first at least onebiometric identifier; (q) providing said first at least one biometricidentifier to said biometric security management system; (r) comparing,by said biometric security management system, said first at least onebiometric identifier with said first at least one baseline biometricidentifier stored in said first identification record, in accordancewith first at least one predetermined identification criteria, to verifysaid identity of the first party; and (s) when said identity of thefirst party is verified at said step (r), proceeding to said step (b),and otherwise indicating a rejection of said first at least onebiometric identifier to the first party, and only proceeding to saidstep (b), when said identity of the first party is verified at said step(r).
 10. The data processing method of claim 9, wherein said at leastone third biometric identity verification system comprises at least oneof: said first at least one biometric identity verification system, saidsecond at least one biometric identity verification system, and at leastone other biometric identity verification system.
 11. The dataprocessing method of claim 9, wherein said step (b) further comprisesthe step of: (t) providing confirmation, by said biometric securitymanagement system to the second party, of said verified identity of thefirst party as a provider of the information, in conjunction with theinformation being made available to the second party.
 12. The dataprocessing method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of: (u) aftersaid step (b), but prior to said step (c), acquiring, by a fourth atleast one biometric identity verification system from the second party,a second at least one biometric identifier; (v) providing said second atleast one biometric identifier to said biometric security managementsystem; (w) comparing, by said biometric security management system,said second at least one biometric identifier with said second at leastone baseline biometric identifier stored in said second identificationrecord, in accordance with second at least one predeterminedidentification criteria, to verify said identity of the second party;and (x) when said identity of the second party is verified at said step(w), proceeding to said step (c), and otherwise performing the followingstep: (y) indicating a rejection of said second at least one biometricidentifier to the second party, and only proceeding to said step (c)when said identity of the second party is verified at said step (w). 13.The data processing method of claim 12, wherein said at least one fourthbiometric identity verification system comprises at least one of: saidfirst at least one biometric identity verification system, said secondat least one biometric identity verification system, and at least oneother biometric identity verification system.
 14. The data processingmethod of claim 12, wherein said step (b) further comprises the step of:(z) after said step (c), providing confirmation, by said biometricsecurity management system to the first party, of said verified identityof the second party and of the second party's access to the information.15. The data processing method of claim 12, further comprising the stepsof: (aa) prior to said step (b), securing the information, byrestricting access thereto, in accordance with at least one accesscriteria, wherein said at least one criteria, comprises a primary accesscriteria of enabling access to the information by the second party onlyupon successful verification of said identity of the second party; (bb)in conjunction with said step (b), providing the second party withaccess data indicative of at least one action necessary to meet said atleast one access criteria, wherein said step (x) further comprises thestep of: (cc) when said identity of the second party is verified at saidstep (w), prior proceeding to said step (c), releasing access to saidsecured information to the second party.
 16. The data processing methodof claim 15, further comprising the steps of: (dd) prior to said step(aa), defining, by the first party for the information being madeavailable at said step (b), said at least one access criteria, such thatsaid at least one access criteria comprises at least one other accesscriteria in addition to said primary access criteria.
 17. The dataprocessing method of claim 16, further comprising the steps of: (ee)after step (dd) storing said at least one access criteria in said firstidentification record, such that said at least one access criteria maybe selectively or automatically applied to all subsequent informationbeing made available by the first party.
 18. The data processing methodof claim 8, wherein said step (d) further comprises the steps of: (ff)recording, by said biometric security management system in at least oneof said first and said second identification records, data indicative ofat least a portion of: actions of the first party relating toperformance of said steps (a) to (d); actions of the second partyrelating to performance of said step (c), results of performance of allsteps prior to and including said step (c).
 19. The data processingmethod of claim 8, wherein each of said first and second identificationrecords, and all contents thereof, are accessible to the correspondingfirst, and second party.
 20. The data processing method of claim 8,comprising the steps of: (gg) after said step (l), providing by thefirst party to said biometric security management system, a first atleast one additional baseline biometric identifier representative of thefirst party's at least one additional biometric characteristic andacquired therefrom by a first at least one other biometric identityverification system; and (hh) storing said first at least one additionalbaseline biometric identifier in said first at least one baselinebiometric identifier.
 21. The data processing method of claim 8,comprising the steps of: (jj) after said step (l), providing by thesecond party to said biometric security management system, a second atleast one additional baseline biometric identifier representative of thesecond party's at least one additional biometric characteristic andacquired therefrom by a second at least one other biometric identityverification system; and (kk) storing said second at least oneadditional baseline biometric identifier in said second at least onebaseline biometric identifier.
 22. The data processing method of claim1, wherein each of said first and said second information transfersystems is selected from a group of: at least one computer, and at leastone mobile communication device.
 23. A data processing system forbiometrically verifying at least one aspect of a transfer of informationbetween a first party and a second party, comprising: a firstinformation transfer system, operable to transmit and receive theinformation, comprising a first at least one biometric identityverification system, a second information transfer system, operable toreceive and transmit the information comprising a second at least onebiometric identity verification system, and operable to communicate withsaid first information transfer system through a first at least onecommunication link, and a biometric security management system, operableto communicate with said first and said second information transfersystems through a second at least one communication link, wherein saidfirst information transfer system is further operable by the first partyto: (1) indicate the second party as an intended recipient of theinformation, and (2) cause the information to be made available to thesecond party, wherein said second information transfer system isoperable by the second party to accessing the information, and whereinsaid biometric security management system, is operable to verify anidentity of at least one of the first and second parties to the otherparty when the second party accesses the information.